Why Offer a Student Discount?

27 Oct Why Offer a Student Discount?

21 million currently enrolled college students have a spending power of $417 billion, that’s billion with a “B.” And they’re all looking student discounts. If you offer a student discount, it’s easy to reach the college student market. Here are 5 reasons why:

1. Students buy online Remember that $417 Billion spending power? They make over 21% of their purchases online.

2. Students want to be marketed to. We recently surveyed almost 400 college students about shopping online, marketing, and student discounts. Here’s what we learned:

64% of college students want to receive emails about student discounts.

55% said that stores should post their student discounts prominently on their websites.

82.5% said that retailers should reach them through Twitter and Facebook.

38% say that on-campus marketing is the way to reach them.

3. It’s easy to make your message relevant to college students.

Unlike some of the other target markets which can have image complexities and are annoyed and distrustful of marketing, college students’ self-image and needs are fairly straightforward.

They embrace the “poor college student” generalization.
They are aware of and confident in their role as thought leaders and therefore understand that they are the market that all companies want to reach.To be relevant to college students, you need to:

Reach them where they are (see point #2 where they told us where they are).

Treat them like the highly sought after market they are.

Offer an exclusive college student discount.

How much of a discount do they need? From that same survey,

82% of students say a 20% discount will get their attention.

32% say a 10% discount will sway them to purchase.

4. Students are just waiting for someone to do it right.

Again from that same survey…

77% of students say they were not happy with the process the last time they tried using a student discount online.

42% say they have abandoned an online shopping cart because it was too hard to get their student discount.

72% say they would use a student discount more often if it was easier.